The escape
by lwrnld
Summary: AU. Dan never got caught for Keith's murder and Luke couldn't deal. It's been five years since he left tree hill and all who love him. Will be a three parter eventually. LP. Reviews welcome and advice too.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: i don't own anything from tree hill although i wish i did. No characters in tis are meant to depict real people and if they do then it is totally accidental!

**The Escape**

Peyton… even after almost five years apart from each other just hearing that name makes me smile and weep at the same time. Y'see last time I saw her she was happy, in that glowing eyes beautiful way only she can be, she'd just kissed me goodbye at the airport heading to LA for her internship. The last sight I had of her was as she ran down towards the gate, waving at me over her shoulder. I should've told her then that I wasn't gonna be around when she landed let alone when she returned to Tree Hill. You see ever since I found out that Dan was the one that killed Keith I'd been trying to find someone to believe me. Problem was no one would, not even my mom who I thought _**would always**_ believe me, and it was this that made me believe I couldn't stay in Tree Hill not if he was still gonna be there, No way!

After a lot of thought I'd decided I was gonna leave, not for college like all of my boys were but to somewhere where no one would know me and where I could maybe begin to find a life away from being Dan Scott's son. Actually I wanted to find somewhere where no one could find me at least until I had managed to get my own head straight. The only person I told about my plan was Haley, just in case of some serious emergency I wanted to have someone who could reach me if needed. Of course Hales tried to talk me out of going, threatened to tell Mom or Nate, damn did she tried everything, but my mind was made up and I needed to get out of Tree Hill. Eventually Hales began to see that I needed this and I knew what I was doing. She didn't agree with my decision but she agreed to keep the secret, at least of where I was anyways.

I faked happiness for the last few days before Peyton left deciding that I should at least wait until she was on her way before I skipped town, I owed her that much. I pretended that I was still going to be taking the coaching job at Nate's college although I had told Whitey I was turning it down and I didn't want him to try to talk me out of it. The old guy was bummed sure but I think in his way he knew that I was gonna be doing something more important and told me that the offer was always going to be there if I needed it. Whitey always did know me better then he let on.

---

Anyways like I said I pretended to everyone that I was gonna be ok over the summer waiting for Peyton to come back. I thought after me car accident and the later heart attack that I knew what pain was, damn was I wrong. That last few days after I decided to leave was the hardest I have ever lived. Every second I thought Peyton was gonna notice something and figure out that I was leaving. I was actually glad when she left me at the airport because I could let some of my torment show and she only thought it was just me missing her.

Peyton called me after she'd landed in LA and gotten to the apartment that she and Brooke had leased for the summer. 'Course by that point I was heading out of town in Keith's old mustang having said goodbye to Hales and Nate (who believed I was heading away for a couple of days to unwind after a **long** year), left a letter for Mom saying goodbye and not to try to call me. First place I went after leaving town was south, to Savannah to see Jake. Y'see Brooke had told me once that Peyton had gone down to see him for a weekend before the wedding and told him then that it was me she loved (ok so she was asleep when she said this but still) and he'd sent her back to me telling her to call him if she ever did get her head sorted out. I kinda had some thought that if I headed down to him and told him what was gone on then at least he would be around to help Peyton pick up the pieces when she was ready to. Of course I hadn't counted on Jake's stubborn streak (probably should've remembered that he'd gone to prison rather than give up his kid!) and I let myself in for the mother of all arguments. He was all for calling Peyton straight away and physically holding me down until she could fly out there and talk me out of my "_damn-fool dumb-ass idea_". He kept saying that me leaving especially in the way that I was would rip Peyton apart after all that had happened to her in the last year. I remember shouting at him "_Do you think I don't know that!! It's killing me too!!_" I think that eventually he came to see my side of things, after all he had done the same a while or so back, sending Peyton away from him because he believed she loved me more. Eventually he agreed to call Peyton and let her know what I'd done and at least attempt to help her move on and maybe forget me.

As I drove out of Savannah a few hours later I didn't know even then where exactly I was going to go but I knew it had to be far away from Tree hill. Over the next few days I got numerous calls from my friends and family including countless calls from Peyton, calls that I ignored and didn't reply to. Every one of them that I let go to voicemail without answering broke my heart especially the ones from Peyton and my Mom. Leaving them was the hardest thing I had done up until that point and I can't tell you how many times I nearly pulled the car over and turned round to drive home and beg for forgiveness but I didn't and, as the days moved on, it became easier to ignore the calls and the bursts of pain they gave me.

--------

After a week or so of travelling, of driving in whichever direction felt right to me at that point, I pulled over in this small town all the way up in upstate New York by the name of Hunter. At first I only wanted to gas up the car, stretch my legs and then drive on somewhere else, but when I got out of the car the quietness of the town just seemed to drain all of the tension of the last few days out of me. In some way I knew that I'd found the place I could settle down in, at least for a while. I hunted around for somewhere to stay and towards nightfall I found a bar where the landlady rented out rooms for a good rate. The old lasses name was McGee, well that was her second name, and over the couple of weeks I stayed with her I learnt that no one, even her husband, ever seemed to use her first name. A day or so after arriving I called into the bar to give McGee my rent and she asked me to help out for a while behind the bar as things had gotten a little busy. Later that same night she pulled me to one side and offered me a job in the bar. Asked me to work four or five nights a week and the first night of the week would cover my rent and bills. At that point in my life I didn't have may other options and in a way I liked the bar, it was kinda the centre of town, kinda like my moms old café had been for me and my old friends. By the time my second summer in Hunter had come around I was working two jobs, the bar and helping an old boy name of Mike run his garage and towing business.

That first summer I learnt even more about why McGee was so well loved in the town and local area. Just up a small side road there was this old camp site (think Friday the 13th but without the Psycho killer) and during the summer that old camp turned into a massive summer camp for hundreds of special needs children from Long Island and other parts of NY. McGee, who'd worked at the camp for a few years when she was younger, knew how rough the days could be on the staff's health and emotion and she did looked after the counsellors, kids mostly, who ran it. Some of the counsellors had come from halfway around the world, flying in from places like Poland, Britain, Ireland and Russia even Australia, for ten weeks and, for many of them, it was their first time away from home. McGee, bless-her-heart, turned the bar into an unofficial hangout for them, rarely checking ID's, allowing some of the more senior staff to run up tabs over each week, hell the old battleaxe even threw half-a-dozen parties for the guys that summer. Boy did those lonely young people love her for it. I lost count of how many of the "returners", people who'd been coming to the camp summer after summer for years, greeted McGee like a member of the family, bringing her gifts and presents from various countries, tipping her outrageously and buying her any number of drinks and other stuff over the summer.

By the end of that first summer those young guys and girls had taken to me like I was McGee's son. The older hands treated me like a younger brother; the new counsellors treated me like a friend. Some threw themselves at me expecting nothing more than a few weeks fun before the summer ended; others flirted in a way that flattered me without freaking me. By the time August had come around a couple of the guys, people who had been coming to Hunter for at least two or three years from all over the US and the world, and I had become quite a tight knit wee group. We'd play ball together for the fun of it, kinda the same way Skillz, Junk, Fergie and I had used to play together before things had changed. I figured out much later that, in a way, Myke, Steph, Dom and Stu had helped fill the hole in my heart leaving Tree hill had left

-----

As the guys left at the end of that summer, promising to visit before the camp started up again the next year, I realised that for the last three months I hadn't thought of Tree hill once. I remember McGee looking at me down the bar as I startled at the thought and saying "_just realised it have you? What ever old thing that you keep thinking about so much, that makes you look like a bulldog chewing a wasp, hasn't been there for a while has it? Reckon you might be ready to get back in contact with some of those guys back home in Carolina?_" I realised then that maybe it was time to try to look up one of my old friends, see where life had taken her.

I remember being more nervous that night as I picked up my old cell phone and searched for her number then I think I ever had in my life, including my first game in a Ravens shirt, and that night I was terrified! The strange thing was even though I eventually called Hales from an old payphone in the corner of the bar, so she couldn't use caller ID to screen and/or avoid me, she seemed to know it was me straight away. I guess even a few months can make you forget some things you've known forever because I'd forgotten just how rough Hales' tongue could be when she was mad. Damn! I mean if the president was really serious about chasing down Al-Qaeda terrorists all he'd have to do would be to drop Haley in to Afghanistan and she'd walk out a few hours later with Old Osama crawling behind her begging for forgiveness. Even though she had known that I was going I don't think she thought I'd be gone as long as I had been and I really don't think she believed I wouldn't be returning. It took me the best part of an hour to get her to calm down enough to listen to me and another couple of hours to get her to agree not to tell my Mom or Peyton that I'd been back in touch. I don't think I've ever talked as fast in my life but by the time I finished talking to Haley I'd managed to convince her that I had my reasons for doing what I'd done and for staying away. Course Haley being Haley wanted to come up to Hunter to see where I was living now and what I was doing and THAT I couldn't talk her out of. I barely got her to agree to not telling Nate where she was going although she did insist that she told him what she was going to be doing, namely meeting me.

A week or so later I finally sat back in my small apartment having moved out of McGee's place a month or so after starting work in the bar. Haley had just left in a cab for Albany airport convinced, if not entirely happy, that I was safe and comfortable and wouldn't be coming home for a while, maybe not ever. She'd stayed for four days and I tell you I've never felt more grilled by anyone over anything since Peyton's dad caught me sneaking out of her room one morning after crashing on her floor following a marathon music night. Thankfully she brought my nephew up with her so she didn't get TOO angry although if looks could kill I'd be dead-and-buried five times over. Once Hales had gotten over telling me what I fool I'd been and how much I'd hurt her and my Mom and finally gotten calmed down enough to allow me to ask questions of my own I asked about Peyton. I had to know how she was doing and if she'd found love again. Haley gave me this look, kinda like the look Mom used to give me when I had chocolate around my mouth and denied eating the last brownie, the "**nice-try-buster-look**"I used to call it. She told me that if I wanted to know then all I had to do was get on a plane and fly home and I'd find out. With a lot of pleading I managed to get her to tell me that Peyton had moved back home shortly after I'd disappeared and lived back in her dad's old house like some kinda hermit. I wanted to ask her more but I knew that was all Haley was going to tell me other then how much I'd hurt her.

----

After Haley left to go back home to Nate at the end of that week I spent a few days wondering if I had really made the right choice and I guess that's what prompted me to write to Peyton. In the letter I tried to explain everything about why I'd left, about how Dan had killed Keith, threatened me when I'd confronted him, and killed Abby when he found out she was the only witness to Keith's murder The hardest part for me to write was to tell Peyton how Mom had turned her back on me when I tried to tell her the truth, something that I thought she would never do before Dan had got his hooks in her again. That letter took me the best part of three days to write and I didn't put a return address on it although I did say that if Peyton ever decided she could forgive me then she was to contact Haley and Haley would tell her where to find me. I remember posting that letter after a week of agonising whether or not to send it, a week of drifting about the bar and the garage like a ghost. Course it took McGee nagging me for the latter part of that week to eventually decide to send it.

I waited half scared of, and half longing for, a reply to that letter for the best part of a month. I can remember calling Haley after posting the letter and telling her what I'd done and why and asking her if she was OK with the part I'd put in for her and Haley saying to me that it was the first she'd been proud of me since I ran into Peyton's house the night that crazy-stalker Ian had attacked Peyton. She agreed to play her part if Peyton called on her although I kinda half suspected she'd go round to Peyton's house daily until Peyton asked for the address just to get Haley to leave her alone for a few minutes. I also remember calling Haley every other night of that month asking if Peyton had called round either to ask for my address or to tell Haley to tell me where to go. I called Hales so much that in the end she got so hacked off with me that she told me she'd call me when Peyton called her and if I contacted her again for a month then she'd give Peyton my address and a plane ticket out of sheer badness. I stopped calling so often at that point not wanting to force anything out of Peyton.

By the time my second Christmas in Hunter had come around I'd kinda got the message that Peyton wasn't ready to talk to me. That year I got a letter from Hales along with a package full of Christmas presents from her, Nate, James (my nephew) and even my Mom. When I called her to ask how come my Mom had sent me something she said that she'd told my Mom I'd been in touch but that I wasn't ready yet to talk to her myself and that she'd(Haley) promised me that she wouldn't push me on this. It kinda surprised me that Haley had managed to keep my whereabouts secret for so long knowing how bad she was at keeping secrets but I guess in a way I was thankful for her doing so, at least it gave me a first glimpse of little sister since I'd left town. It actually surprised me more that my mom hadn't pushed Haley into giving me up but maybe she decided to trust that I knew what I was doing, at least on some level I did anyways.

----

Over the next couple of years I stayed in Hunter I gradually allowed myself to, I guess, shelve my thoughts of home. My work in the bar, my job down at the garage and my friendships with the returning counsellors kept me going. Hell I settled into the town so well that after McGee saw me playing basketball one day she talked me into applying for the basketball coach job at the local high school. During those years I kept in touch with Hales and through her I stayed up-to-date with what was happening to all of my old friends back down in Tree Hill. At first every time I spoke to Hales I would check on Peyton and how she was but after a while, as I began to truly settle into life in Hunter, I stopped asking every time and eventually I stopped asking at all. It just grew too hard to talk about Peyton, for both of us, so without discussing it we just never mentioned her. I never went back for a visit though Hales did come up once or twice a year usually bringing James along with her and sometimes Nate would tag along too although he was real swamped with his college season and I don't think he had ever truly forgiven me for running out on Peyton. Although he and Peyton had split for a lot of VERY good reasons they had become surprisingly good friends once they had gotten over their feelings following their split. I guess on some level I was glad of that because at least I knew that Peyt had a protector still around now I was gone. The strange thing was though that over the last few months I hadn't heard from Haley as often as usual and not at all for almost three weeks now. Course now I know why that was.

A couple of days ago the summer season started up again up at the camp and yet again the old crowd had returned for another summer. This year Myke and Steph had come in early to help organise things, about two weeks ago, and we spent best part of a week together just hanging out in the evenings before things got really busy. Myke had been offered a job in charge of one of the camps "units" that summer and he took it real serious so me and Steph decided to burst his bubble a bit y'might say. Anyways after a week or so of this it became almost routine for the two of them to hit the bar of an evening and for me and Steph to tease him for an hour or so about this and that. Last night Myke came down to the bar as usual with Steph along with Dom and Stu who came in today. When they came in something seemed different about them, like they had some secret thing they knew that I didn't.

----

That night was real busy so I didn't get much chance to really have a chat with them at first and this air they had was really starting to get to me after a while. It wasn't so much what they were saying all though I could only catch snippets of whatever it was as they'd shut up or change the subject when I passed by but it was they looks they kept shooting me as I went past. It was like those looks Hales or my mom would give me around Christmas, the old **I-know-something-you-don't-know** look, that always wound me up so much I'd end up begging for the secret and they'd end up falling apart laughing at me. I **HATED** those looks even as a kid and more so now! As the night had gone on and things had slowed down a notch I finally found some time to actually stop in and talk to them. After twenty minutes or so of me pushing (subtly of course) and them ignoring or deflecting my questions I'd lost my temper and asked them outright what was going on. Myke and Stu had looked at each other and burst out laughing while Steph looked askance at me as if the game should have gone on a bit longer. When Myke and Stu stopped laughing Dom leant forwards and started telling me about this new counsellor at the camp.

As Dom talked I began to understand what they had been so amused by all night. Dom described this new Arts teacher at the camp, some leggy young blonde with a sexy smile and a southern accent. Knowing my reputation around the town as a bit of a ladies man with the younger women at the camp, especially the blondes, they'd been making bets between them about when I'd hit on her and what the result would be. Laughing I asked them for a bit more information about this blonde and that's when they told me her name. "Peyton" had laughed Steph "Peyton Sawyer. Says she's from some small town down in North Carolina. We've been making bets as to whether she already knows you and will turn you down or not for being a bad lay!"

I guess some of the shock I'd felt at hearing that name again must've shown on my face as Steph immediately became quite upset-looking and started stammering about how they'd only been teasing me, getting some revenge for the piss-taking that Myke had gotten for the previous week or so. When I'd been able to speak again I'd asked for the name again and after Stu repeated "Peyton Sawyer" I fell back in the chair and ran shaking fingers through my hair. "It couldn't be her could it?" I thought "Surely it's just a coincidence!"

----

I hadn't realised I'd spoken those words out loud until the four of them looked at each other and turning to me asked me if I knew her. I looked up and said that that name was the name of my first love, the girl I'd been in love with throughout high school, and that I'd left behind when I came to Hunter. Somehow I managed to get all that out before my voice broke and I fled the table, running back to behind the bar where I felt truly safe. As the three guys had looked at each other, shocked by the looks on my face and by my running away Steph followed me to the bar and dragged me off to one side of it. I guess I shouldn't've been surprised that Steph was the one who followed me though. Steph was the only one of the group who knew the full story about what I'd left behind when I moved to Hunter and also why I'd moved although I'd never told her Peyton's name. I couldn't meet her eyes as she leant over the bar towards me and whispered "Is Peyton the girl you told me about? The one you've never been able to really get past?" I remember nodding painfully as I started pleading that surely it couldn't be the same girl, begging her to agree with me.

About then, thankfully, a crowd of new young guys from the camp piled into the bar and McGee'd shouted me over to help her serve them so, telling Steph I'd talk to her in a bit and asking her not to say anything to the guys until I knew what I was going to do myself, I moved to help McGee out. When I next looked around after a frantic half hour I realised that Steph had disappeared from the corner booth but with the bar being as busy as it was I just put it down to her being maybe in the bathroom or something. I never figured she'd do what she did next. About thirty minutes or so later I heard the bell over the door ring and, with McGee taking a break for something to eat, I stood up from restocking the cooler and turned towards the bar to serve the newcomers. I nearly fell over when I recognised the second of the two women who'd come through the door, the one standing behind Steph.

For the first time in just over five years I looked into the same old eyes that I used to lose myself in and surprisingly there wasn't a trace of anger at me in them, just love and a lot of tears. It was Peyton, MY Peyton, the girl I'd thought of constantly since leaving Tree Hill but had tried to forget to avoid the pain remembering her caused me. 'Course I didn't get much time to look in those eyes because she threw herself at me wrapping her arms around my neck like she was drowning.

----

I guess I freaked out because I pushed her away and fled through the back of the bar into the stockroom, slamming the door behind me to try to block out the vision of her face. After ten minutes or so McGee came and almost dragged me out, not listening to my plea's, telling me that I'd be better losing myself in work rather than drowning myself in memories. Over the rest of that night I kept busy, futilely trying to avoid Peyton and the rest of the group over at the corner table. Some hope! I don't know what it was but every time I looked up I seemed to meet her eyes, or catch a glimpse of her hair in the corner of my vision. After a while, although I'd tried not to look over towards them, it became as if my eyes were being drawn by some kind of magnet towards the group sitting over by the dart board.

By the time McGee decided to close the bar around 4.30am (McGee never paid too much attention to official closing times) I was just counting the minutes till she left and hoping that I could drown myself in a bottle of whiskey enough to help me sleep without dreaming of her. As I started to kick the young counsellors out of the bar I saw Myke and the guys leaving and breathed a silent sigh of relief. "At least it was over for tonight" I remember thinking, "I've got some time to prepare myself for tomorrow now." Turning back towards the bar I saw the two girls standing there with McGee and, before I could say anything, McGee and Steph walked past me out of the door, Steph whispering to me on the way past "Don't let her go again Luke. She needs you….and you need her just as much." I closed the door behind them telling Steph I'd talk to her tomorrow but I wasn't real happy with her. Her disbelieving laugh floated back through the door as she walked off down the path towards where the rest of the guys were waiting.

Turning around I took my first real look at Peyton for just over five years and realised that Steph was at least partly right. This girl standing hunched over against the bar wasn't my Peyton. It was the Peyton I'd slept alongside after that stalking-piece-of –shit Ian had attacked her, the scared little-girl-lost who I could no more run away from then I could stop breathing. Looking at her I felt all of the old memories come flooding back. The times down at the river court, laughing together in my moms kitchen or at the café, walking on the beach or dancing in Tric, sitting in her room listening to some new record she'd just found or just lying there in my room watching her sketch some new drawing. I guess that was when it hit me…Steph was totally right! I did need her in my life… and, by the looks of it, Peyt needed me.

----

"How'd you find me?" I remember snapping, trying in some way to hurt her as much as that revelation I'd just had had stung me, "Why'd you come to find me?" Peyton looked up at me and with her eyes brimming over she whimpered "your letter Luke. You gave me your address in that letter you wrote me, well you told me where I could get your address anyways. I saw Haley a day or so after I first read the letter but I just wasn't ready to see you or speak to you at that point in my life. I came up here for a couple of reasons though. I needed to see you for myself, at least once more, if you were never going to come back to Tree hill, to tell you some important news and to bring you a couple of things."

As she said those last words she began fumbling in her purse for something. As she rummaged for whatever it was I stepped forward and touched her shoulder. Before I could say anything she turned into my chest and wept as I gathered her in. In a way, standing in that hug with her I felt like I'd never left and all that had happened over the last few years had been a dream. Just standing there holding her made me feel like I had when I'd held her after the state championship final, like there was no one else in the world but the two of us. It didn't last long though because holding her in my arms began to remind me of other things I'd left behind when I left Tree hill which then reminded me of my mom and how she'd betrayed me…and Keith.

I pushed Peyton away, perhaps a little harder than I meant to and turned away from her saying " if all you've come for is to see me for some kind of closure and to play messenger then leave your messages on the bar and go. If you're gonna be here all summer then I'm sure I'll see you around but right now I need to sort this place out and get some sleep. I've things I need to be about in the morning." I surprised even myself by the harshness in my tone but I couldn't apologise now. As my mom always used to say I was stubborn even for a southern man and my pride wouldn't let me take back those words. As I started to clear up the last few glasses and bottles left up on the bar I felt a hand slip something in my back pocket just before the door bell jingled as she left.

I reached down and pulled from my pocket the two letters she had given me and glanced at them, fully intending to read them later after I'd finished my work, but when I noticed the writing on one of the envelopes I ripped it open immediately. It was from my mom. Inside was a simply written note.

"_Lucas, I'm sorry and I believe you. Dan's finally admitted his part in Keiths murder and his trial starts soon. Please come home now, I need my son back and Lily wants to finally meet her big brother. Mom"_

_----_

I stood there in shock for a moment reading the words over again before turning to the door, my mind frantically racing over the last few minutes and hoping I hadn't driven away one of my only sources of news. This must've been what Payton was going to tell me and I'd sent away without listening to her. I glanced at the other envelope and recognised her writing on it as I reached the door but stuffed it back into my jeans pocket as I wrenched the door open. Looking down the street towards the camp I spotted Peyton walking slowly along the sidewalk towards the short cut through the woods to the camp. I began running towards her, wanting to apologise, to ask her what was going on back in Tree hill, to try to take back the pain I'd caused her with my thoughtless words. Forgot one thing though, her brother Derek had taught Peyton to always be aware of possible danger since that stalker had nearly gotten her that first time, including teaching her to punch like a man twice her size.

As I caught up with Peyton she spun towards me, alerted by the sound of my footsteps I guess and hit me with the best punch I've ever been hit by. It was a better punch even than the one she'd once hit Brooke with that had left Brooke with a black eye for the best part of a fortnight. It sent me flying of balance and I fell, cracking my head off the sidewalk so hard all I could see for the next few moments was stars. As I began to come to my senses again I saw Peyton standing a few feet away looking at me like she wasn't sure whether to help me up or hit me again. Thankfully as she saw me start to struggle to my feet she decided upon the first option. I was kinda glad about that as I don't think I could've taken another hit like the first one.

I looked down into her eyes and stammered "I'm sorry. Really. I shouldn't have spoken to you like that and I definitely didn't mean it. I nee.." At that point she stopped me by placing one of her long fingers upon my lips and said "It's ok Luke. I know how hard seeing you has been for me and I knew it was coming. Maybe we should just talk tomorrow though. It's been a long day and I've only two more before the children arrive on Saturday. There's still so much to do before then that I'm likely to still be working hard on Saturday morning." With that she turned away from me and, leaving me standing there pole axed by everything that had suddenly changed in the last few hours, ran for the path up to camp. Before I could do anything she was gone from my sight around a turn and I didn't really know that path well enough to follow her. I guess I was going to have to speak to her tomorrow I thought. Returning to the bar I finished the tidying up and, switching off all the electrical things except the coolers, closed up the bar for the night.

Walking home I reached into my pocket for my keys so I could let myself into my apartment and found the letter from Peyton that I'd stuffed in there earlier as I'd chased after her. I looked at it as I walked up the stairs into my apartment and, after stripping off down to my shorts and collapsing into my bed, decided that I was too tired to open it just now and put it up on the side table to read in the morning. As I flicked off the light and lay down I thought of all that had happened to me in such a short time. The last thought I remember having before falling to sleep last night was of Peyton's face as she entered the bar.

----

Waking up this morning I lay there for a moment wondering…hoping even that the events of last night had been a dream. Rolling over in the bed to look at my watch I noticed the letter lying where I'd left it before collapsing and realised that it wasn't a dream. It was real.

Shaking slightly, I reached out, picked up the envelope and looked at the old familiar writing upon it. Tearing it open, I pulled out two pieces of paper. The first one I unfolded was an old comic strip showing a bunch of traffic lights changing colours Peyton had once drawn for THUD magazine called **People always leave. **It looked a little different to how I remembered it as she'd added a couple of extra frames. The first one showed a drawing of a girl, surprisingly similar to Peyton standing watching an old Mustang drive out of town, with the caption saying **people always leave especially the good ones**. In the second new frame was a picture of two hands, one of them wearing what looked like a basketball state championship ring and the other wearing a ring remarkably like the old claddagh ring I'd once given Peyton one Christmas when we'd been trying to pretend we were just friends. The caption underneath it said "**Fate sometimes gives you a 2nd chance! Sometimes they come back".** The other piece of paper held only a few lines of heartbreakingly familiar writing.

"_Luke. _

_I guess I finally understand why you had to leave although I don't think I'll ever be able to truly forgive you for doing it the way you did. Just know that I'm going to love you forever Lucas Scott and when you're ready for me I'm here. Come back to us when you're ready but make it soon. We need you here, all of us… especially me._

_I miss you,_

_Love always, _

_Peyton Sawyer_."

I lay there for what felt like forever but was probably only seconds before rolling out of bed and grabbing my clothes. I knew that no matter how busy she was I had to see her now, in the light of day to try to explain why I'd been so angry and rude last night and why I also needed her in my life even if I'd only just realised how much. Grabbing my keys and wallet from the counter where I'd dropped them I ran for the door, planning on running all the way up to the camp to speak to her and damn my heart condition.

----

As I ran through the gates into the camp looking for someone I knew who could tell me where Peyton was I spotted Steph and Myke lying on the grass near the small boating lake talking quietly with each other. Jogging over to them I started to ask where she was but Steph interrupted me with "She's quit Luke, she's gone. She'd been up all night crying on our shoulders since she left you by the bottom of the shortcut last night and she finally decided to go home this morning. She left about an hour ago." I froze, looking at Steph wanting her to tell me she was only joking, begging her to say Peyton was nearby and this was just some bad practical joke. Steph shook her head sadly and almost whispered "She left this for you though." handing over a small piece of paper. I looked at the small note, my mind shouting out "You fool!" over and over at me.

The note held a couple of short tear-stained lines. _Luke, I've gone home. It hurt more seeing you then I thought it would especially after you said what you did. Only follow me if you're ready to. If it's too hard for you I understand. Goodbye. P"_ Suddenly I knew that I had to go home, back to Tree hill, I NEEDED to go home…. home to Peyton because without her I was incomplete. It'd taken me almost five years to figure out that running wouldn't get me anywhere; I needed to face my fears and return home. My mom needed me, needed my support and Peyton...I hope she needs me because I sure as hell need her.

----

I looked down at Steph and Myke as these thoughts flashed through my head, not really seeing them because I was so lost in my thoughts, and so was kinda surprised when Steph stood up and slapped me. Startled I stared at her and began to ask her why she'd done that. Before I could say anything though she interrupted me and said (well near screamed actually) "_Are you gonna follow her or what Luke? Cos if ye don't, so help me god, I'll knock ye seven ways from Sunday!"_ I wasn't sure whether to step back or laugh at her rare fit of temper but, after glancing at the warning look on Mykes face, I just nodded and replied "_I'm going. I'll be on the road by 3pm.I'd leave earlier but I'll need to pack up my stuff, Let McGee know where I'm going and that I'll maybe not be back and hand over the keys for the bar. That'll take a bit of time but I'm definitely going. You were right last night_"

Myke laughed at me when I said that and drawled "_Leave most of your gear behind Luke. Me and Steph'll swing down when the camp seasons over with your gear if'n you want. If you're gonna be there that long that is. And we can pop over to McGee's after we've had a bite to eat and drop off the keys and any other messages you have for her if that'll help. Just pack enough for a few days and if you need more sent down call us and we'll pack it up and send it on down. We owe you enough favours and from what you've said of Tree hill before I'm kinda interested to see this little place_."

I grabbed his hand and shook it gratefully. Turning I ran for my apartment shouting over my shoulder I'd be back in twenty minutes with my keys, mom's address and a note for McGee explaining. By the time I got back home I was out of breath but strangely not tired at all. Quickly grabbing my holdall from the cupboard I stuffed a few clothes into it and grabbed my toiletries. I quickly scribbled a note to McGee explaining where I was going and why and also that I wasn't sure when I was going to be back but that I would call her when I knew for definite what I was doing. As I turned to run out of the apartment for my car I noticed my laptop and the pile of journals and notebooks I'd kept for the last five years and decided to throw them in as well before I left. Hopefully everything I'd put down in writing over the years would be able to help my mom, Peyton and my other friends understand why I'd dropped out of sight for so long.

As I drove out of town a quarter of an hour later, having dropped off my keys and the stuff for McGee with Myke and hit the deli for some supplies for the trip, I realised that I actually was a little bit sad to leave Hunter. It had been a great place to get my head in gear and I'd made a few amazing friends also. As I drove over the brow of the hill heading out of town I decided that I would definitely return here one day hopefully for good and, if I was really fortunate, I'd have Peyton by my side.

----

Just over two days later and having drunk about 100 cups of coffee I drove into Tree hill. Having slept very little and, like I said having had a massive amount of caffeine, I was a little unfocused. So much so that I ended up pulling over at the river court reasoning that a couple of hours sleep before I saw Peyton or my mom would probably be a good idea. If nothing else it'd help keep me from making a fool of myself again like I'd done the other night in the bar. Parking up by the old worn bleachers for the first time since I'd left school reminded me of so much I was kinda glad I'd not gone straight home. If just seeing an old basketball court could nearly wreck my control then seeing my mom again would probably turn me into a candidate for quivering-jelly-of-the year. I curled up on the back seat of the mustang and closed my eyes after setting my alarm for a couple of hours away. I was eager for some sleep but was also eager to see my family again. The last thought that ran through my head before I fell asleep was "It's good to be home!"

After what felt like the best sleep in years I was woken by a banging on my car window. Glancing at my watch as I rolled over I was startled to see I'd only been out for about thirty minutes. Looking up I was even more startled to see Brooke's face staring in at me although I WASN'T surprised by the anger on her face. Sitting up I unlocked the door and began to climb out, inwardly tensing myself for the verbal, and possibly physical, beating I was about to get. Surprisingly though she wasn't as angry with me as I'd expected her to be knowing what her temper was like.

She was a little mad about my running off but what had really annoyed her or so she said was she'd thought I'd just swung into town without a word to anyone and wasn't planning to see anyone either. Once I'd reassured her as to why I'd returned (at least some of the reasons anyways) and explained why she'd found me asleep at the river court Brooke actually settled down quite quickly. Although she did insist on accompanying me to the first of my reunions the hopefully easier one with my mom so I don't think she was fully ready to trust me just yet. Pulling up in front of Mom's café I was a little worried about getting out and, without having Brooke there, I probably would've just turned around and fled back to the river court. Thing was with Brooke there (within hitting distance) I was actually more scared of her wrath (and right hook) if I didn't go in than of my mom's reaction if I did.

----

It took me almost ten minutes to get up the courage to actually enter mom's café and surprisingly, given how much nagging she'd given me, Brooke waited patiently for me to be ready. When I finally was she offered to come in with me to support me if I wanted and when I said I'd be ok she didn't push it, thankfully just said she'd wait behind. Walking up the couple of steps into the café I could hear my heart racing so fast it was like watching an Irish dance competition in double-quick time. I pushed open the door and paused on the doorstep as I saw the familiar figure of Haley walking around the counter towards the cash register. Looking about for my mom I couldn't see her so I hesitantly walked over towards Haley to ask her where my mom was. I think it was the first time in the long years of our friendship I'd seen Haley so surprised. Before I could say anything she flew OVER the countertop (Never let it be said Haley always takes the easy route) and threw herself at me like some kind of crazed NFL linebacker. I didn't even have to ask her where my mom was because the screams of joy at my return could have told someone in California where I was let alone my mom who, as it turned out, was in the kitchen fixing an order up.

I'd barely managed to extract myself from Haley when my mom flew out of the kitchen and grabbed me. She actually squeezed so hard I had to ask her to ease up because I was worried about my ribs breaking. Mom then leant back and slapped me full force in the face! Looking about the cafe slightly shocked, although I guess I really shouldn't have been, I could see Nate sitting over in a corner booth with James and Brooke, the three of them trying hard not to laugh at the look on my face. My mom and Haley, after asking the young girl sitting behind the counter to watch things for a while, dragged me upstairs to our old rooftop mini-golf course to talk with an amused looking Brooke in tow. As we headed up the stairs I saw Nate start to get up to follow us but a glare from both Hales and Brooke made him sit down very quickly.

Once we got upstairs the four of us kinda stood around for a moment none of us really knowing where to start. After a minute I started talking. "_Mom, I know there's little I can say to apologise for leaving the way I did but you have to know that I thought long and hard about it before I went. I couldn't stay here in Tree Hill then it was too hard to deal with. Not only knowing what Dan had done and being unable to prove it was hard but knowing that you'd sided with him over me. I couldn't deal with that so I left to find somewhere I could cope and in a way start to heal a bit_."

I paused for a moment to fight down a wave of anger at the memories surging back but before I could continue Mom started to talk. "_Luke_," She almost whispered, "_Luke, it's ok. I understand why you left. Over the last few years I've had a lot of long conversations with Haley, and yes I know she's been up to see you a few times, and she made me understand exactly why you cut yourself off from us. I think I understand, even more now, how sick you must've felt after finding out about Dan since he admitted what he'd done to Keith a couple of months ago. I'm just glad you're home and hopefully it'll be a long time before you leave again right?"_

I shook my head in wonder at that. Twice tonight I'd reconnected with people who, knowing them as well as I did, I thought would have been both unable to forgive me for leaving and also extremely angry with me for going. I guess the years since high school had mellowed them out a touch, which I was kinda glad for, because the old mom and Brooke would've hammered me about the last five years for the next five years. Taking a deep breath I started to relate the story of where I had been and why I'd returned now. Brooke had already gotten some of why I was back and Haley (and through her my mom) had gotten some of where I'd been and what I'd been doing but I felt I owed them, at least my mom and Haley anyways, a full explanation.

----

Almost an hour and a half or so later, having gone back downstairs to find a comfortable booth to sit in whilst I told my story and having drunk a few more cups of coffee to keep my throat wet enough to talk, I finished my tale. "_So you see thats why I had to come back. Not only to apologise to you mom but also to fin Peyton and try to get her to forgive me for how I spoke to her the other night. I know I don't have the right to ask any of you for a favour but do any of you know if she's gotten home yet. I really do need to see her, as soon as I can._" With those last words I raised my eyes from the table where they'd been pretty much focused for the last while and met the eyes of my family and former friends. Surprisingly there was no accusation or anger in the eyes of any of them after my story, not even Nathan who had been so angry with me previously for the way I'd treated Peyton, there was only forgiveness and support. Strangely that was the final straw, the one that broke the camels back and sent me off into near hysterics. Before I knew it there was a pair of arms around my back and I felt myself being drawn into some ones shoulder.

Once I'd calmed down a bit and was able to stop crying I looked up at the person I'd being weeping on expecting to see my mom or Haley. It totally threw me to see it was actually Peyton I'd been crying on and, even more surprisingly, there wasn't even a trace of anger in her eyes. I started stammering "How...Why? I thought it was too hard for you to see me at the moment." but stopped when I saw the two figures standing behind her. It was Myke and Steph. Confused, I looked between them, Peyton and the rest of the group sitting around the little table. "What's going on? What are you two doing here now, I thought you wouldn't be down until after the summer had finished."

Peyton smiled at me then over at Myke and Steph "See I told you he wouldn't get it." She turned back to me and explained how between the three of them they'd cooked up this scheme to make me feel guilty and get me to come back to Tree Hill to reconnect with my mom. She'd not been angry with me at all that night at that bar, at least not after she'd hit me anyways. The three of them had played me, played with my reactions knowing how I would react to Peyton pleading for my help and then running away, knowing how I would react to being challenged by Steph to follow and help her. The only things they hadn't set up had been Dan's court case and how my mom would react. Even Brooke had been in on the plan, which kinda explained how she had known to look for me at the river court, and why she had been so calm all evening.

I turned back to Peyton and asked the question that had popped into my mind as I had driven out of Hunter two days before. "_Will you come back with me Peyton? Back to Hunter I mean. As good as your plan seems to have worked out I think I need to go back there. After five years it really feels like a comfortable place to live now but there's one thing missing. You! I need you Peyton, as much now as I ever have and, as much as I 'd like you to come back with me, if you decide you want to stay here or even move to Alaska I'm coming with you. If you'll have me that is_."

Before I babbled on much more Peyton laughed the old laugh that I hadn't heard in so many years and laid a finger across my lips. "Of course I'm coming back with you Luke. I've got a contract to see out first as do Myke and Steph but after that I'm gonna stay. One condition though. We never lose contact with here. If you want me to move up to Hunter with you then the rules are we spend at least two months worth of the year back down here, non-negotiable. Oh and when Dan has his trial in September we return for that. We all need the closure it'll bring"

I don't think I've ever felt more scared or happy then I felt in that moment. But somehow I didn't care I knew I had my Peyton back and I wasn't going to lose her again. For the first time in years I was home and although I was going to leave again soon, probably in the next couple of days unless my mom got ahold of me, especially as Peyton was going to have to travel back up to Hunter tomorrow so her Myke and Steph could get back to work, I was back home. Leaning back I started to smile at the peace that thought brought when Peyton leant over and whispered to me "And by the way Lucas Scott, I expect you to make up for hurting me and for scaring me at the bar….tonight!" before she kissed me. Hard. It looked like I had a long night of making up (or was I making out) to do which looked like it'd be a lot of fun.


	2. chapter 2 peytons history

**Thanks all of those of you who reviewed this story. I am so sorry it's taken me so long to update it but things have been really hectic at work recently and I haven't had much time to do much else but work. Anyways here is chapter two, Peyton's history of the years apart ENJOY! **

Disclaimer:- I don't own anything in tree hill, although it would be fun if I did. Any similarities between my story and it's characters and anyone in real life are totally coincidental.

The escape chapter 2

What is love? I don't just mean the kinda love friends have between them, the trust and companionship that real friends rely upon. I don't even mean the deeper love that family members share, the deeper more forgiving love that makes mothers, fathers and siblings forgive almost anything done given enough time. No I mean that all-encompassing love between two people that in some unknown way complete each other, the kinda love that drives you on when you are tired and collapsing, makes you feel warm when you're frozen to the core, makes you feel full when you're hungry just by thinking of the object of your affections. The kinda love between two people that bad poets write love songs about and that other people around mock whilst secretly envying and wanting it.

My name is Peyton Sawyer and once I thought I had that kinda love, only a few short years ago in fact. I'd found a guy that made me buzz to my core just by walking into the room. The kinda guy that just by being around made every worry, nightmare or pain that I might be feeling just disappear in a glow of warmth and need. The two of us couldn't seem more different to outsiders, the star basketball player and the emo-loving rock-chick-cheerleader. Yet to those who knew us, to our true friend and family we appeared so similar that I can even remember his mom once saying that it was like looking at two copies of her son when she looked at the both of us. We were two of a kind, both broody music loving slow-to-trust people and yet beyond that we just seemed to complement each other. He made all of my insecurities seem like nothing and saved me from everything including myself at times. I made him feel alive at times and kept him from giving up when he lost basketball from his life, when his mom was sick after bringing his sister into the world, when he nearly lost his brother twice and his best friend/sister-in-law to the music touring world. Simply put we loved each other and I felt like we would never be apart from each other again.

We'd met in junior year when he joined the basketball team although we had lived in the same town, gone to the same schools as we grew up and walked the same streets with our friends for our whole lives up until that point. Two of our friends, my ex and his best friend say that at that first true meeting they could see that we had connected on a level so deep that even we weren't really aware of it. After a year and a half of fighting, with each other, against the world of our friends and family, to stay together, to stay away from each other, to move on with our lives and to regain what we had lost we'd finally gotten together.

Even the night that we finally got together didn't work out like a perfect fairy tale ending, he nearly died from a heart attack caused by overdoing it to help the school win the state championship, one of our friends, Haley, nearly died after being hit by a car driven by an angry loan shark that Luke's brother Nathan had borrowed money from. Of course that elastic connection around our two hearts held us together, even after that when that crazed bastard of a stalker returned and tried to force me into going with him and it came out that my best friend who had fought with me over my cheating with her boyfriend (my Lucas) and cut me out of her life turned out to have slept with my ex, while we were still together.

A few months after we had finally gotten together I received an offer of an internship in LA with this small but powerful music company, an internship that I had applied for at a point when my life seemed to be falling apart. A few weeks before I received the offer I would have jumped at the chance to start a new life away from the hell my life had become, away from the pain and memories that Tree Hill had given me over the years. The problem was that when I received the offer of three months in LA I had finally gotten everything I ever wanted, a guy I loved who loved me, my friends back together, a brother in soul and blood to support me, everything a girl could want I got. For the first time since I had applied for the internship I wanted to turn it down and stay in Tree Hill…with Luke. Luke however told me to go for it, told me that he would be here when I got back and would love me forever as he already had. It took me a week or two to decide, to accept that he was really serious and that my leaving wouldn't end things between us. As you've probably guessed I took the internship and surprisingly Brooke chose to come with me, despite all that she had going on, despite the fact that her clothing line was taking off and she had offers from New York and other places to go and work she chose to come with me.

I remember leaving Tree Hill airport with Brooke that day, walked through security to the gate leaving Luke standing there watching me. The last time I saw him was watching him standing at the window of the terminal waving at me as I walked out to the plane. Looking back now I know what he was about to do but then I put his quiet mood down to him being him and his sadness at me leaving (not big-headed at all was I?). I remember sitting through the whole flight with half of my mind listening to Brooke babbling on about all the fun we were going to have in LA, when I wasn't working that is, and the other half still basking in my love for Lucas.

I called him two minutes after arriving at the small apartment that was all Brooke and I could afford to rent and even then though he sounded different my own excitement about what I was doing made me miss the small cues that anyone who knew Luke knew meant he was about to do something really stupid ('course he'd call it noble or some other bullshit phrase). It wasn't until I got the phone call from Jake, of all people that I realised that all the little warning flags that I'd ignored over the last few weeks weren't about Luke missing me but were about Luke leaving. He'd been trying to hide something from me and I'd missed it. For a girl like me who, lets face it, doesn't have much self-esteem at times losing Luke was like being hit by an 18-wheeller that then reverses over you to get another shot at hitting you. Simply put it crushed me…totally. I tried to carry on with the internship but it became obvious after just a couple of days that my heart wasn't in it. To be honest without Luke I don't think my heart was in anything at all except maybe some needle filled box that kept closing tighter day-by-day.

After a week of struggling through each day at work and crawling into bed every night to cry myself to sleep I gave up on LA and decided to move back to Tree Hill. The thing was when I told Brooke this she seemed almost glad. Turned out she had decided to take up that job offer in New York after all and had been trying to figure a way to tell me she was leaving without making me feel any worse. I stood at LAX and watched my best friend take off to New York before I got onto the plane back to Tree Hill. Karen met me at the airport surprisingly, turned out that Brooke had called her before she left and told her what time I was landing. Thing was just seeing the woman who'd become almost like a surrogate mother to me over the last few months just made me feel worse and me being me I clammed up. I know now that she came to get me in the hopes that I would help me and her to find a way to deal with his leaving and a way to cope until he returned. Didn't do that though. I remember sitting in her car all the way back to Tree Hill barely responding to anything she sad until she just gave up trying and drove in silence.

For the rest of that summer I barely left my house. My dad was still away on some job and I hadn't told him I'd returned early let alone about Luke. Haley and Nate tried popping by every so often but I barely responded to them and after a few weeks of this even they stopped coming by. Honestly I don't think I stepped out of that house more than once or twice a week until I received a letter in mid September.

At first I thought that it was from Brooke as it was stamped from New York. I almost threw it down and went back to bed but for some reason I opened it. It was from Luke! He'd finally gotten in touch with me! I began to read through it, frantically looking for his address so I could join him, I mean why else would he be writing to me after so long away. As I read it though I realised that it wasn't about that at all. He was trying to explain why he'd left and why he ….wasn't coming back ever?! Surely I had read that bit wrong? No I hadn't read it wrong he really wasn't coming back to Tree Hill.

He wasn't coming back because some crazy girl from High school had said that Dan had killed Keith. I mean that was impossible even for Dan, the man who'd once tried to choke Luke to death because he thought Luke had tried to burn him to death, and worse Luke had believed this girl so much that he'd tried to tell Karen what he saw as the truth. I know now that everything he wrote was true but then all that letter did was get me angry. He'd left town, abandoning me and everyone else in his life who cared about him, who loved him all because of some crazy-ass story! I scrunched up that letter and threw it across the room, storming out of the house to head to Haley's to get his address.

Halfway there I had a change of heart though and slowed down as sense gradually took over from the anger. He'd asked me not to contact him unless I was ready to forgive him for running out on me and I wasn't ready for that. More importantly though I'd never known Luke to do anything impulsive, except get tattooed whilst drunk with Brooke, and if he'd done this then he must've really felt that it was the best thing for him. I changed direction and walked over towards Karen's house. As I walked up the pathway the door opened and she came out with little Lily in her stroller. Seeing me she slowed down and started to open her mouth, I guess to ask me how I was or something. I didn't give her a chance to speak and started before she could.

_Is it true? Did Luke leave because of some dumbass idea that Keith wasn't shot by Jimmy Edwards but by Dan? _I almost shouted at her, startling Lily so much that she began to cry. Karen bent down over her and picking her up began to shush her. After a moment or two she looked back at me and I knew the answer before she even opened her mouth. Turning away from her in disgust I broke into a run and almost sprinted away. Karen tried to call me back, to explain I guess, but I ignored her. I couldn't believe that Luke had told the truth about that part of his reason at least. I t made me wonder if some of the other stuff he'd said could be true as well.

Karen tried to come round that night, to speak to me. She'd figured out that I must have heard from Luke to know what had happened between her and him. I threw her out. I wasn't ready to confront my own feelings about him let alone face her issues as well. I sat alone at home for almost a week, thinking about everything he had written in his letter and about his mom's reaction when I'd confronted her. After spending that week going round in circles over the same old ground I decided to do what I'd originally set out to do that night a week ago. I went to see Haley. She was his best friend. If she was willing to hold onto his address for him, and maybe me, then surely she must have some idea if what he said was true.

I knocked on Haley and Nate's door half hoping she was in and half scared she was out somewhere. Nate opened the door a moment after I knocked and looked at me briefly before enfolding me in his arms with a smile. _I knew you couldn't stay away from here too long Sawyer_ he said _I knew that letter would bring you here sooner or later. Come in Hales is out at the moment but she should be back in half an hour or so_. I walked into the apartment without a second thought, I trusted Nate. Now that's a relationship that always seemed strange to most of our friends. I mean they all knew that as a couple me and Nate were a train wreck. The strange thing was since he and Hales had gotten together he'd changed, for the better I might add, and we'd become close, probably closer than me and Brooke were now. He treated me like a little sister and saw him as my older brother, which did put a weird spin on mine and Luke's relationship at times (I mean me being in love with my brother's brother? Freaky huh?)

I looked over at Nate as he fixed us both a drink and wondered how the two Scott brothers had become such a big part of my life. My train of thought was interrupted when Haley flew in to the apartment with a crash and threw herself at me. _PEYTON _she screamed _GOD it's sooo good to see you out of that house. I was beginning to worry you were gonna turn into some kind of crazy cat lady living alone in the house and scaring the neighbourhood kids when they went by. Dare I hope its cause you wanted to see me and Nate or maybe James? No even I know that's stupid. It's the letter isn't it? Luke's letter. What do you wanna know Peyt? Where he is, why he left, how he is or a bit of all three?_ Strange thing was I don't think she even took a breath as she blurted out that speech. Something on Haley could do I guess, when that girl gets on a roll she can say more words without breathing than anyone I know.

I looked at the two of them together and I couldn't help thinking that they had what me and Luke should have had if things had worked out the way they were supposed to. It was that thought that breached the flood gates inside me and I broke down. I came back to myself a while later to find Haley sitting opposite me with a sleeping James in her arms and Nate enfolding me in one of his hugs again. I pushed myself upright giving the two of them a smile meant to convey that I was ok now. Yeah they didn't fall for it, not that I really thought they would. Before I could say anything though Haley started telling me everything about Luke, where he was, how he looked, and what made him left.

After a while when I asked them if they believed his reasons for leaving they froze and looked at each other before Nate answered _Peyton I believe him. I can't say I forgive him for disappearing without giving us a chance to help him but I believe Luke when he says this. You know Dan as well as I do. He could do this, I mean look at what he did to Keith and Jules. If he really got angry enough he could kill someone I know it. All we can do now is wait for either Luke to come to his senses or for Dan to make a mistake._ For Nate that was actually a ringing endorsement of his brother and somehow it made me feel better. I don't think I was actually ready to believe what I no know for truth just yet but I was ready to give it time. I mean as Brooke once said those who are meant to be together always find their way back to each other in the end.

So I waited for almost four and a half years for something to change. I didn't hide in the house anymore though. I went out and worked. Found myself a job working for THUD magazine as a kinda roving music/art critic/reporter. I watched James grow up over those years, listened to Haley talk about Luke after every time she went up to see him and waited. I had no contact with Luke directly over those years but when Hales took or sent Christmas presents or birthday presents up to him I usually picked out at least one for her to give to him pretending it was from her. See the three of us had decided that it would be better for Luke to believe that me and Hales didn't see too much of each other. It meant that when, note not if but when, things changed enough that he could possibly come home then we could surprise him better.

Did I stop loving him any over those years apart? No if anything I loved him more. I knew how hard I was finding it being apart and from what Hales said he wasn't having it much easier. In a way I came to love him more because he was putting himself through so much pain to keep us all safe. I mean as one of the few of those damn dead authors he was always reading or quoting once said, _'Love is not love which alters when it alterations finds, it is an ever-fixed mark that looks on tempts and is never shaken. Love alters not with time's brief hours and weeks, but bears it out. _

After four and a half years of waiting for something to change it finally did. Abby returned to Tree Hill and told the truth about that day in the school. When the three of us heard what she had said and that the cops had arrested Dan for Keith's murder we decided it might be time to bring Luke home. When it came out that Dan had broken down under questioning and actually admitted what he had done we knew that it definitely WAS time to get Luke home.

But how? You'll love the plan we cooked up between the three of us and a couple of people Hales knew up in New York.

**So that's chapter two. I've nearly finished the following chapter telling of how they managed to get Luke to come home so I should have that one up by new years. As always please send me a review if you like how things are going or even if you don't. Anyways see you soon. **


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